Dolla Dolla Twenty-Nine, Y’all!

Posted by John on April 10, 2009
Posted in: music industry, news. Tagged: . 6 Comments

If you’ve been on iTunes this week, you’ll have noticed a few new features (including a new version to download for Mac). Take a look at the Top 100 singles, and you’ll see that a good chunk of them are now $1.29 instead of $0.99. It was inevitable that the record companies would try to push prices up, seeing how well singles are selling these days in the digital format. From today’s Billboard.biz news, here’s a breakdown of how it seems to be going:

On Wednesday, one day after the price increase, the iTunes Top 100 chart had 40 songs priced at $1.29 and 60 with the original $0.99 price point. The $1.29 songs lost an average of 5.3 places on the chart while the $0.99 songs gained an average of 2.5 chart positions.

Seven of Wednesday’s $1.29 songs had been priced at $0.99 on Tuesday (there were 33 songs priced at $1.29 on Tuesday morning). Those seven songs lost an average of 1.9 chart positions from Tuesday to Wednesday; one of them gained ground, eight lost position and one remained the same. The remaining 33 songs priced at $1.29, whose prices went unchanged from Tuesday to Wednesday, lost an average of 7.7 chart positions.

itunes-sales-diffSo what impact does chart position make on the labels? I’m guessing increased revenue trumps reduced chart position every time. However, the old guard of the business still hangs onto that chart position like a geriatric with the last crab leg at a casino buffet. So this should be interesting…I wouldn’t be surprised to start seeing the old cassette single pricing strategies come back into play. Put a single out, and then when you’ve got the promotion all in place, just drop the price to 99 or even 49 cents, and watch that single shoot to #1. This music business thing is never boring, is it?

Shuttin’ John Rich Down

Posted by John on April 8, 2009
Posted in: commentary, singles, videos. Tagged: . 4 Comments

Uh oh…John’s venturing back into Country territory again.

John Rich CDOne of the most talked-about songs at Country radio right now is John Rich’s “Shuttin’ Down Detroit”, which tells a tale of the fat cats in the Motor City driving off with the livelihood of the folks who work in their factories. You know, noble idea to document a real-life situation in real time. However, Rich decides to wrap himself in some pretty lame cliches, and the result is an overblown, lowest common denominator track that misses any sense of balance whatsoever. But if you think that sounds lame, try watching the video.

Did you watch it? If you didn’t, good for you. It’s crap. On the same day that the guy with 32 years seniority at an auto plant gets laid off (like that’s gonna happen with unions), he also gets a foreclosure notice. Sorry…sledgehammers have slightly more subtle delivery methods than this self-important video. So the guy who wrote an ode to John McCain and compared gay marriage to incest gets a buzz track. Good for him. But karma’s a bitch…his “hit” stalled at #12 for a few weeks, and is now losing airplay. Songs that get that high on the country chart almost ALWAYS make the Top 10.

Video Notables – Eminem

Posted by John on April 7, 2009
Posted in: videos, youtube. Tagged: . 6 Comments

The whole idea of an artist releasing multiple singles before the full-length drops is becoming more and more common, and Eminem is utilizing that strategy with his upcoming “Relapse” project. Single #2 is “We Made You”, and it’s also the first video from the album, directed by Joseph Kahn. It’s Eminem doing his pop culture raunch, skewering Jason Mraz, Sarah Palin, Star Trek, Rock of Love, Jessica and Romo, Britney’s Circus, and even Rainman. It’s overkill, but any video with Bobby Lee in it can’t be all that bad, right?

There’s no denying that Eminem is a lyrical genius, but a lot of his mainstream success relies on brilliant hooks that catch the non-hip-hop crowd, and this one’s not really as strong as past hits. Given how the first single did (#1, then plummet), he’s got to be hoping this one has a lot more longevity.

Never Being Boring

Posted by John on April 3, 2009
Posted in: new releases, reviews. 8 Comments

psb-yes-ltdSo I woke up this morning to find an email from the Pet Shop Boys (we’ve got it like that…have you got it like that?), and out of the kindness and generosity of their hearts, they are offering a VERY limited edition of Yes, and at a cost of only £300.00. But what do you get? Well, along with Neil and Chris’s gratitude (and autographs), you’ll also receive:

A highly collectible piece of pop art by a duo renowned for embracing artistic experimentation, this bespoke music and art edition comprises a hand-made oversized box with gold mounted metal tick containing the album’s 11 tracks pressed on 11 super-heavyweight 200-gram vinyl records, with exclusive b-side instrumentals, housed in 11 specially coloured sleeves.

psb-britsKinda hot, but not really in my current budget. At least I have the CD to keep me happy. I’ve resisted a bit on doing the review, partially because I’ve been sick and/or busy, and partially because it’s already been done so well (please see D’luv’s first and foremost review). However, it’s a brilliant body of work, and truly stands among their best CDs (Very and Please, IMHO). While Fundamental may have been the adult Pet Shop Boys CD that we didn’t know we wanted, Yes is the adult Pet Shop Boys CD we were hoping for. There’s a bit of wisdom and gravity to it, but it’s a consistent, upbeat and groovy record. “All Over the World” is as close to an anthem as they’ve gotten since “Go West”, and “Love Etc” is consummate PSB, even though it really doesn’t sound like anything they’ve done previously. While I already know the answer to this, if “Did You See Me Coming?” isn’t a hit in the U.S., the Boys will never have another hit here. This one’s going to be on heavy rotation for quite a while.

Video Notables – David Cook

Posted by John on April 1, 2009
Posted in: videos, youtube. Tagged: . 4 Comments

It’s got to be a given that I’m going to post a new David Cook video, right? Here’s the clip for “Come Back To Me”, which I have a feeling is going to be bigger than “Light On”. For a guy that’s in his mid-20s, he has a look of someone more worn down by the world, and that may be part of his appeal to me. The audio’s a bit off of the video, but you’ll get the basic gist. (And this may very well get yanked, but I’ll repost as it is available) I like it, although it’s kind of a music video cliche that’s been done before. What’s your verdict?

Where You Been?

Posted by John on March 27, 2009
Posted in: new releases, personal, videos, youtube. Tagged: . 3 Comments

Hey folks…sorry for the delay absence. Between work, school, and life in general, I haven’t been inspired (or mentally equipped) to post the past week. I’m hoping lightning strikes this weekend, as I can’t just rely on Video Notable entries to tide me over. We got hit with a foot and a half of snow yesterday, and so things aren’t boring here by a long shot. But life is okay…just hectic. I seem to be in a perior of reprioritizing at the moment, which isn’t really a new thing, but rather a resurfacing of issues that have been lingering for the past six months.

As always, it seems that music comes along that really fits my mood at the moment, and at the moment, it’s the Indigo Girls CD that came out on Tuesday. Excellent effort that I will have more to say about in the next couple of days. Here’s a live performance of “Sugar Tongue” at Criminal Records in Atlanta this week:

Video Notables – Ciara

Posted by John on March 19, 2009
Posted in: videos, youtube. 4 Comments

A preview of Ciara’s “Love Sex Magic” popped up on the web tonight (h/t to Mr. Ali), and I’m hoping this is a gag. This video makes the “If You Seek Amy” video look like “Thriller”. The track is cool, but wow. Why even bother with a video? And no trace of Justin, either. Verdict, please?

Good and Bad

Posted by John on March 15, 2009
Posted in: charts, commentary, concerts, new releases, upcoming. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

ting03Good – The Ting Tings appear to be getting that long-promised breakthrough, as “That’s Not My Name” breaks into the pop radio Top 40 (#39 at the moment). “Shut Up and Let Me Go” also made the Top 40, although just barely. Let’s hope “Name” has a little more momentum to make it happen. If all goes well, I will be seeing them live at the beginning of April here in Denver.

Bad – The slow start of The Script breaking in the U.S. How this group has so far been ignored is beyond me. You would think that this was custom-made for American consumption. The physical release of the CD is this Tuesday, but it was released months ago on iTunes. I blame the industry for this (along with anything else that goes wrong).

Good – Neko Case’s “Middle Cyclone” debuts at #3 on the Billboard Top Albums chart. Srsly?

Bad – The Neko Case CD only sold 44,000 units to land at #3. Srsly?

Good – Kelly Clarkson’s CD “All I Ever Wanted” appears ready to debut at #1, with sales around 200,000 units.

Bad – “My December”, which was considered a failure, sold 291,000 units when it debuted.

depeche_mode_soundsGood – I’m looking forward to upcoming new releases from the Pet Shop Boys (just pre-ordered the double disc at CD-Wow), Depeche Mode (released on the same day in the U.S. as PSB), and Lady Sovereign.

–Bad – Sadly, there is also new music on the horizon from Kid Rock and John Rich. (More on John Rich tomorrow)

David Cook Comes Back

Posted by John on March 13, 2009
Posted in: concerts, new releases, singles, videos, youtube. Tagged: . 4 Comments

It’s a pretty good time to be David Cook right now. His debut self-titled CD passed the 1 million sold mark this week, less than four months after release, he’s in the middle of his first headlining tour, and the video for single #2 is in the can. Following in the footsteps of Beyonce (okay, not really), he’s releasing “Bar-Ba-Sol” to rock radio, and “Come Back To Me” to pop radio. Excellent move, and not one I figured on. When I saw that his tour was called the Declaration tour, I figured the next single would be “Declaration”, but “Come Back To Me” was one of several gems I discovered on the CD, and makes perfect sense as a follow-up to “Light On”. David’s current tour of the eastern half of the U.S. rolls on through April, and there are already dates booked at fairs and festivals through the summer. Just none in Colorado…

That’s My Jam

Posted by John on March 10, 2009
Posted in: singles, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , . 6 Comments

I could talk about the new Kelly Clarkson CD (pretty good), the FINALLY released Chris Cornell CD (maybe later this week), or another new Chris Richardson track from MySpace (not too shabby), but none of that is really inspiring me this morning. So as a warm-up (it’s 28 and snowing here today), here are a few tracks that I’m jamming to at the moment:

Pet Shop Boys “Did You See Me Coming?”

It’s as if the heavens opened up and sent a chorus of Neil Tennant angels down to Earth to serenade us. The song was released on Sunday as part of a PSB hits collection in England (thanks to Paul for the heads up), and I just can’t get enough. For those of you who haven’t checked it out yet, the new CD is available to hear at 7Digital.

Jesse McCartney “How Do You Sleep”

I missed this one on my first trip through the CD, but the reissue of Departure includes a new version with Ludacris that’s blasting up the pop radio charts. I don’t mind the Ludacris rap, but at the heart of the song is a killer hook that I hear at random times during the day.

Neko Case “This Tornado Loves You”

Neko first came into my view when her music was used on “Big Love”, but I didn’t really get it at the time. Trust me, I get it now. “Middle Cyclone” is a brilliant CD, and “Tornado” is a big highlight of the record. (Yes, there’s a bit of a weather theme here) I’ve also found myself listening to the half hour of tree frogs at the end of the CD several times in the last week. Apparently, tree frogs encourage concentration when studying. Go figure!